Action Center, the home base for your PC's security, lists all information about security settings. The main role of Action Center is to consistently check on security items such as your network firewall and maintenance items including backup and restore, to make sure your machine is healthy.
The Action Center in Windows 7 gives you a view of all your PC's security and maintenance features.
Action Center shows up as a little white flag on the right-hand side of the Windows 7 toolbar, or it can be reached by the path Control Panel -- System and Security -- Action Center.
Inside Action Center, you can make sure your Windows Firewall is on, your antivirus software is up to date and that your PC is set to install updates automatically.
When the status of a monitored security item changes, such as your antivirus becoming out of date, Action Center notifies you with a message in the taskbar. Then when you open Action Center, the status of the item in question changes color to indicate the severity of the problem, and an action is requested.
[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts -- see CIO.com's Windows 7 Bible. ]
Action Center is a helpful resource that warns you when there may be trouble. Be sure not to neglect those Action Center messages when they turn up.
Windows Defender
Windows Defender, antispyware software that's included with Windows 7, runs automatically when it is turned on. More...
Source: IT world
